


Visionary

by jennytork



Series: Gemini AU [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-03 00:52:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10956288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennytork/pseuds/jennytork
Summary: (Incorporates "Route 666" and "The Benders".) Sam's vision-dreams clue the brothers in to a case involving Dean's old flame. But when they are working that case, a second vision about a second case hits. Which case will the brothers choose -- finish the Robinson case? or take on a murderous family that hunts humans like deer? And if they choose the Robinson case, how will Gemini's fire powers hold up against the spirit of a truck?





	Visionary

VISIONARY

Sam let out a tiny gasp as he jerked in his seat. He sat up straighter and rubbed the pads of his finger and thumb into his eyes, pressing against his nose.

"You okay over there?" Dean asked, glancing over.

Sam cleared his throat and blinked, wide-eyed, at the hand resting on his arm.

"Sorry," Dean said, squeezing it and putting his hand back on the wheel. "You were having one hell of a dream over there."

"Uh..." Sam cast about until Dean nudged a water bottle his way. "Thanks." He uncapped it and drank deeply.

After he was done, Dean said, "I was thinking about fillin' up the tank the next town over."

"Sounds good." Sam watched the scenery roll by for a moment, then slid around to face Dean. "No more secrets?"

'Never. Bein' one person part of the time--"

"—pretty well prevents that," they chorused, then Sam nodded. "So you won't be offended when I ask you this."

"Must be a hell of a question, if you're pullin' 'Lawyer-Ese' on me."

Genuinely amused, Sam laughed. "Yeah, probably."

Dean grinned back at him. "Okay, lay it on me."

"Who's Cassie?"

Dean's eyes went huge in surprise. "....wow...." he breathed. "Yeah, a hell of a question." Clearing his throat, he shifted and got a better grip on the wheel before answering. "Okay, first off, she isn't a secret. She's a part of my life I thought I'd left behind. Why're you askin'?"

"She was in my vision-dream," Sam said softly. "She's.... She's very beautiful."

"Yeah," Dean said, guiding the Impala onto the exit ramp and into the streets of a medium-sized town. "Tell you what – let me get her gassed up and us in a room and I'll tell you all about it."

"And I'll tell you about my vision-dream," Sam nodded. "I'll pick up some food, first."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The brothers were still very much adolescents in many regards. One of the most telling was that when deep discussions were in their immediate future, warm comfort food was usually involved.

So, over a huge order of burgers, fries, onion rings and chicken salad sandwiches, they exchanged stories. Sam listened to Dean's account of his ill-fated romance with Cassie Robinson, and Dean listened to Sam's vision dream, which featured her being run off of a road by a huge growling truck.

At its end, Dean got up and paced the room's length three times before turning to face Sam. "I don't even know where she is, now. I don't know of any way I can contact her."

Sam opened his mouth to reply.

And Dean's cell phone rang.

Dean looked at Sam. Sam looked at Dean. Then Dean scooped up the phone and answered it. "Hello?"His eyes widened and he looked over at Sam. "Hi, Cassie." He listened for a moment, then said, "Ha-Hang on." He snapped the fingers of his left hand.

Sam gasped, and Gemini opened his eyes and brought the phone back up to his ear. "Sorry, Cassie – could you repeat that?"

_"Dean, are you okay? You sound a little....off."_

Gemini chuckled. "I'm okay. You don't sound like you are. What's wrong?"

_"Now that you can listen?"_

"Yeah, sorry – now that I can listen."

Gemini listened as she poured out the story. Her father was dead, driven off the road. His last words to his wife had been that he was being followed by a ghostly truck.

 _"And I don't even know where to begin investigating this,"_ she finished.

"Okay, hold on." He put his hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, "Well?"

_It's almost exactly like my vision. Except it was her being run off the road._

"She lives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. We can be there in four hours if we drive. Two the....other way."

_Let's drive in, this time._

Gemini removed his hand. "We'll be there in four hours or so. Stay _put._ Where do we meet you?"

_"Newspaper office – where I work."_

"Perfect. Stay there and look and see if there's been other fatal accidents on that stretch of road." He paused. "Is it the same paper you interned at?"

_"It is. I'll do that looking up. And Dean? Thank you."_

"Sure. See you soon." He closed the phone and blew the air out of his cheeks.

Sam stepped away from him and sighed. "A ghost -- _truck?"_

Dean shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

"Yeah? Name one."

Dean thought for a second, and then shrugged again. "I'm sure there have been."

Sam huffed out a laugh, then went into the restroom and started collecting their things while Dean went to the office to get a refund for the two nights they would not be spending in the room after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Four and a half hours later, the Impala pulled up outside of a large building that proclaimed itself to be the _TIMES-SUN._

"This the place?" Sam asked.

"Uh-huh."

Sam turned to look at Dean, who was looking at the building with an unreadable expression. "Nervous?"

"Wish you could have met her earlier. Not sure about seeing her again."

Sam nodded. "One way to find out." He got out of the car.

Sighing, Dean followed him.

"Cover story?" Sam asked as they walked in. "Or do we need one?"

"With Cassie, no," Dean said. "Everyone else?"

"We're writing a book," they chorused and entered the building.

Immediately, they were stopped by a security guard. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

Dean smiled. "We're here to see Cassie Robinson."

"Miss Robertson isn't seeing anyone at the moment."

"She'll see us," the brothers chorused.

Blinking in surprise at the double voices, the guard shook his head. "I told you--"

"Problem, Phil?" the voice from the phone said, and there she was, walking into the room. Cassie smiled at them. "Dean." She went right into his arms, hugging him and kissing his cheek before turning to the tall man by his side. "And this must be Sam."

"Must be," they said together, each one smiling warmly at her.

"Oh, my," she chuckled. "Come on, you two – we've got a lot of ground to cover and I don't think we have much time."

Cassie led them into her office. "Have a seat – coffee?"

"Yes, thank you," they chorused, then Sam finished, "Cream and sugar, please."

"Coming right up. Dean, you still take sugar?"

He nodded. "When I can."

She smiled softly – fondly – then busied her hands making the drinks. "I did that research," she reported.

"What'd you find?" Dean asked, smiling his thanks as she handed them their coffees and sat at her desk.

"Well," she said, sighing and pulling up documents on her computer. "Including Daddy, there have been four fatal accidents on that road in the last year."

"We're sorry about your dad, Cassie," Sam said sincerely, and a small, sad smile was her answer. "May we see the reports?"

"Anticipated that." Cassie gave each of them a small stack of papers. As they looked through them, Cassie said, "All of the victims have been African-American males."

"Each around sixty years old," Sam hummed thoughtfully. "Each on that same stretch of road."

"And I knew them all," Cassie sighed deeply. "They were all friends of my father's. And then Daddy...." She shook her head.

Dean suddenly spoke up. "Hey, check this out. Not one of these mentions a wife or kids."

Cassie nodded. "Jim and Moses were divorced, and Martin was a confirmed bachelor. They would tease Daddy all the time about being the 'odd man out' cause of Mom and me." As she finished, she was smiling fondly, though sadly. "I can't believe they're gone."

"So all four of these men knew each other," Sam said slowly. "All four ran off the same stretch of road. And your father was one of the circle of friends – and the only married one." He met his brother's eyes.

Dean took a deep breath. "Cassie – I really hate to say this..."

She looked between them. "Go on...."

"—But it's starting to look like this might not be our kind of gig. It's starting to look like it's something--"

"—Something human," the brothers chorused.

"Right," Sam finished. "Goin' after that group one by one."

"I've been considering that," Cassie said. "And it does make sense. Except for the fact that Daddy told Mom it was a _ghostly_ truck."

"I wonder how he could tell," Sam mused. "Was it see-through? Was it ephemeral?"

Dean's eyes suddenly widened. "Or maybe somehow he recognised it was a ghost."

Sam nodded. "Cassie, we need to talk to your mother. See exactly what your dad told her."

Cassie chuckled, looking at Dean and teasing, "You just want another home-cooked meal."

"That, too," Dean grinned.

As they left the building and headed to their cars, none of them saw an empty alleyway suddenly fill with a large black driverless truck.

Cassie's car pulled out, followed closely by the Impala. The black truck's engine turned over and it slowly pulled out of the alley, vanishing into invisibility as it growled its way down the street.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The fact that Mrs. Robinson was white and Cassie was not did not even register on the brothers' radar. They had been raised to save their hatred for the creatures that preyed on human beings – not for something as mundane as what colour skin that human being happened to have.

There was no room in their personality for the kind of hatred that had triggered the two incidents Cassie had included in the information packet she'd given them in the office, so they would understand the rationale behind the race-based murders. Cyrus Dorian, a prominent member of young, white Cape Girardiau society had vanished less than a week after the unsolved bombing of a black church. Tit for tat, it seemed – escalating and escalating until the deaths and vanishings had shocked and horrified the city into waking up.

Cassie's parents had been the first interracial couple married in the city, shortly after these incidents.

But quite frankly, even with this history at their fingertips, the brothers found the whole business unnecessary and silly. Their energies were best served directed elsewhere than hating a human because of a superficial difference.

Especially now that there was some question in their minds whether or not they qualified as fully human any longer.

What exactly did "meta-human" mean, anyway?

The night's discussion turned out to be rather unproductive. Mrs. Robinson had a bad headache and really hadn't wanted to talk. So they had agreed to return in the morning and retreated to the motel to gather their thoughts.

Sam had half-expected Dean to stay with Cassie, but he had surprised him. "Nah – that ship sailed awhile ago."

Dean opened his eyes to find the room was lighter than it was supposed to be. He rolled over and squinted at the clock radio, which cheerily shone its numbers out, proclaiming it to be 4 AM.

Rolling back over, he groaned softly to see a wide-awake Sam at the laptop. His first impulse was to snap that they'd _talked_ about this and why wasn't the stupid kid _sleeping_...

But being the same person about half the time had taught him much about his little brother and his reactions. So he swallowed his first impulse and asked calmly, "What happened?"

"Vision-dream," Sam replied, shooting a grateful smile at Dean. "Trying to find a phone number for the sheriff-- ah, found it." He pulled out his phone and dialed.

Dean sat up, hugged his knees and watched curiously.

Sam blinked. "Deputy Hudak? Yes, hello, I know it's late. I'd like to make a report – there's a family just outside Hibbing – back in the woods. They hunt people like deer. Three men and a little girl. They've captured a young man named Harold---" His eyes closed. "Yes... I'm so sorry. They are torturing him and he'll be dead in 24 hours if he's not found. Please, don't go alone."

Sam spoke for a few moments long, then hung up. "I think she was tracing the call."

Dean waited, watching him.

"It was her brother." Sam sighed and set the phone down. "Harold Hudak. She said if I'd cracked this case, she'd be forever grateful."

"Is she going alone?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "She's gonna get a posse and raid them at dawn. She says their name's Bender and they've suspected, but there's been no proof – until now."

"Was that your vision? Her brother being killed?" At Sam's nod, Dean moved to his side and threw an arm around his shoulder. "Need to fly?"

"Yeah."

Dean snapped his left hand's fingers, and Gemini shimmered into being. He pocketed a room key, then soared into the night.

The conversation flowed easily and the hour and a smidge until dawn passed pleasantly. As he glided toward their motel, Gemini passed over the Robinson house.

 _Dean,_ Sam gasped, but he had already seen it.

A monster of a truck shimmered into view from nothingness and began to slowly rumble toward the Robinson house.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"What is _that?"_ Cassie asked, heading to the living room window and throwing open the curtains. "What the...." she breathed, taking a step back from the weird sight.

A monster truck that didn't cast a shadow was rumbling at their window. The engine revved over and over, and the entire truck trembled with it.

Mrs. Robinson came up beside Cassie. All the colour drained out of her face and Cassie heard her whisper, "Oh, my G-d.....Cyrus...."

The truck revved again, and backed up. It sounded like an otherworldly snarling growl as it inched forward menacingly. Then it backed up and growled, revving its engine.

A burst of fire shot from above, and the truck dissolved in a blast of embers. The silence left in its wake was almost as deafening as the growl of the engine.

A red-haired man touched down barefoot on the Robinson's front lawn. He turned slightly, and Cassie's eyes narrowed. She knew that profile....

Her hand hit 'last dial' on her phone.

Instantly the strange man's head snapped down toward the messenger bag he wore. He stared at the house for a moment, then he bent his knees and soared into the air.

Cassie's eyes narrowed further as she terminated the call. "....Dean."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The second Gemini's feet touched ground outside their motel room door, Dean flung himself away and all but threw himself through the door. Sam followed at a more sedate pace, closing and locking the door behind him.

Dean was lurching about the room, mumbling to himself as he began to haphazardly throw things into their beds.

"Hey..." Sam closed the distance in two strides, gripping Dean's shoulders and physically making him stop. "Hey .... Dean...."

"She knows," Dean gasped out.

"Yeah, I think so," Sam said. "Dean, other people know, too. It's not that big of a--" He broke off, searching his brother's huge, frightened eyes. "Except this is the first person close to you that found out."

"I didn't want her to know," Dean whispered, and he couldn't meet Sam's eyes. "I didn't want her to look at me like that girl did.... that girl on the Hookman case who was so scared of Gemini....."

Sam gripped his shoulders tighter. "Well, if she does? I'll be there with you."

Dean looked up at him.

Sam nodded. "Can't get rid of me now, remember? What affects one...."

"Now affects both," they chorused.

Both heads turned at the knock on their door. Sam stepped back. "Bet that's her."

Dean nodded and moved to the door. Hand on the knob, he turned to look back at Sam, who smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

Dean drew a deep breath and blew it out of his cheeks. Then he pulled the door open. "Hey, Cassie," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "Come on in."

"We need to talk," she said, walking in and looking pointedly at Sam. "Alone."

"No." At her surprised look, Dean nodded toward Sam. "If this is about what happened on your lawn a bit ago, it concerns him, too."

"So it _was_ you," Cassie said, crossing her arms. "Where's the red wig? How were you _flying?_ And how does it concern _Sam,_ too?"

"Yeah, she's a reporter, all right," Sam chuckled.

Dean smiled at that, then said, "Cassie, all those questions can be answered in one word."

"What word is that?" Cassie asked.

The word came in perfect unison. "Gemini."

Cassie nodded slowly. "Gemini," she said slowly. "All of the answers are 'Gemini'?" At their nods, she glared at them. "And just _what,_ pray tell, is a 'Gemini'?"

Dean looked over at Sam, who nodded. Turning back to Cassie, Dean stepped backward until the brothers were standing side by side. "Cassie, this is Gemini." And he snapped the fingers of his left hand.

Sam was suddenly gone in a small flash of light. And Dean had – altered.

He was visibly taller. His hair was longer, wavy and bright red. His emerald eyes were slightly slanted and his freckles were gone, replaced by a single mole on the left cheek beside his nose. He smiled, revealing a pair of deep dimples, and spread his hands. "This is Gemini," his lighter voice chuckled.

Cassie literally yelped, staggering backwards a step. "What... What the hell _happened_ to you?"

Gemini told her. Everything.

Except for the part about their father hunting them.

At the tale's end, she smiled at him. "You always _did_ want to be a superhero. Hell of a way to do it, though."

Gemini blinked at her, then threw back his head and laughed. Sam seemed to step away from him, and Dean was guffawing. Sam just smiled at them as Cassie laughed softly with him.

When the mirth had died down, Dean said, "I'm sorry we startled you. We were flying to clear our heads and we saw that truck pop into sight. It looked like it was trying to intimidate you – so we took care of it."

She nodded. "So you can fly and generate fire. Can you do that alone, or only as... Gemini, is it?"

"Gemini, yeah," Dean nodded. "And no, like this I'm just plain old Dean. Gemini hogs the powers."

Sam chuckled at the way Dean put that.

So did Cassie. "Looks like I definitely got more than I bargained for when I called you." She kissed Dean's cheek. "My hero."

Sam was thoroughly enjoying Dean's faint blush. But both of them went all business when all the teasing went out of Cassie's face and she sank heavily into one of the desk chairs, her eyes widening.

"What?" they chorused, and Dean finished, "Cassie, what is it?"

"I just realised," she said softly, her voice shaking slightly. "In all the shock of finding out my ex-boyfriend is a real, honest-to-goodness superhero, I completely overlooked...." She met their eyes.

"Dean.... my mother recognised the truck."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mrs. Robinson tried to plead another bad headache – the shock of earlier and she wasn't exactly a young woman any longer – only to be stopped by Dean's soft voice.

"We need information, Mrs. Robinson. Or Cyrus is going to keep killing."

She spun to face him, eyes huge. "Where... Where did you hear that name?"

"You said it, Momma," Cassie replied. "When the truck was at our window, you said, 'Oh, my G-d. Cyrus.'"

When Mrs. Robinson winced at the name, Sam said, "Ma'am – please. We have to know, so we can stop him."

She sank into a chair with a sigh that seemed to mingle defeat and relief. "It was a long time ago," she began, her voice trembling. "And you have to understand, things were so very different, then."

It took fifteen minutes to tell the story – one of a colourblind love and an obsessed ex whose love mutated into an irrationality that focused on the skin colour of the man that she had chosen. Of revenge for losing her being taken out on a church full of innocents – everyone knew it had been Cyrus, but before he had been able to be brought to justice, Cassie's father and his friends had gone to confront the bigot.

That confrontation had turned to a fight that had turned to murder and a hurried disposal of a body inside a truck deep in the swamp. All of the recently murdered men had been involved in the incident. 

At the end of the tale, both women had tears rolling down their cheeks. In the silence that followed, Sam softly said, "I'm sorry you went through all that, Mrs. Robinson. But can you think of anything specific that could have triggered these attacks _now?_ Spirits filled with that much rage and hate don't normally wait forty years for revenge."

Mrs. Robinson shook her head. Cassie started to, but her eyes widened and she turned to face Sam. "Could construction wake one of them up?"

"It's possible," they said in unison, then Dean said, "Show us."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The construction site was nothing to write home about. It was a half-finished skeleton of a building that jutted out into the marshland. Dean produced a strange-looking Walkman and waved it about. "What's that?" Cassie asked.

"EMF meter," they chorused. "Dean made it," Sam finished.

The meter suddenly whined,and Dean nodded. "This way." They hiked over, and Dean suddenly pointed. "Sammy."

"I see it," Sam said, his voice tight.

Just barely visible in the muck were the tops of the mirrors mounted on a truck's roof. 

Cassie shuddered. "That's it," she breathed. "That's the same truck! But.... I don't....how....."

Dean wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "Welcome to our world," he teased lightly, and both brothers grinned when Cassie hit Dean in the stomach with the back of her hand.

"The construction definitely disturbed him," Sam said, then paused to see Cassie frowning. "What is it?"

"I think I know this property," she said. "There used to be a mansion here – Dean, what did Mom say Cyrus's last name was?"

"I don't think she did," Dean said. "Do you think it could have been his house?"

"The timing fits," Sam nodded. "House goes, truck revealed, ghost starts attacking."

Cassie nodded slowly. "So what do we do?"

"You stay back so you don't get burned," Dean said and nodded at Sam, who snapped the fingers of his left hand.

Cassie had seen this happen once before, but she still gasped when Dean's form rippled and vanished, and a small flash of light revealed Gemini standing where Sam had been.

"You okay?" he asked, and she managed a somewhat stunned smile and nod. "All right, then. Stand back – here we go!"

As he said those three words, Gemini's eyes turned red-gold from corner to corner. He turned toward the just-visible truck, and Cassie took a few steps backward, stunned by the sheer power that suddnely crackled through the air.

Gemini planted his feet wide and ordered, "Cassie, behind me!"

Cassie moved behind him and curled her fingers in his (Dean's, part of her mind supplied rather incongruously) belt.

He smiled over his shoulder at her and then raised his hands to shoulder-height. His wrists crackled with energy for a few seconds, then twin jets of fire poured from Gemini's hands.

The mud in front of the truck hardened, causing the more liquid mud that it rested on to fall away. As the interior of the cab was revealed, Gemini's breath caught in a sharp hiss. "Don't look, Cassie."

She tried to peer over his shoulder, but only saw a flash of white before Gemini broke the windshield with a rock and threw a loosely-tied bandana in through it.

As the bandana fell, it tumbled open and salt poured into the interior of the truck, followed by a powerful bolt of flame. 

They stood, watching the inferno claim Cyrus's body and the interior of his prized truck.

Sam stepped away with a smile and gathered the EMF metres, giving Dean and cassie a chance to quietly talk. 

Only to be interrupted by a familiar rumbling snarl of an engine. Three pairs of eyes grew wide and flicked to the access road in disbelief. They had burned the body – it should have been over.

But there was the ghost truck, big as life and twice as ugly, snarling its displeasure.

"What the hell -- " Dean gasped. "How---"

"He must be tied here by something else!" Sam yelped. "Cassie, go limp!"

"What—" Cassie gasped, but Dean nodded and triggered Gemini, grabbing her behind the knees and shoulders and vaulting them both airborne.

The pair glided down the access road, with the snarling of the ghost truck in hot pursuit.

"I don't understand!" Cassie gasped, her eyes locked over his shoulder onto the truck as it roared after them. "You said salting and burning the body would put the spirit to rest!"

"And it does!" Gemini shot back, performing an aerial evasive maneouvre to avoid a branch he barely saw in the dark until they were very nearly on top of it. "Unless they're tied to something else or have unfinished business!"

 _Wait.... unfinished business...._ Sam's voice rang in Gemini's head. _Dean, what if his unfinished business is--_ And he lay it out.

Gemini gasped. "Cassie – the church that was firebombed shortly before Cyrus was killed – it's close by, yeah?"

"Y-Yeah – down Cooper's Road!"

"Show me!" When they neared the turn-off, she pointed and he wheeled mid-air, gliding down that road.

Touching down in the darkened ruins, Gemini set Cassie down and moved in front of her, shielding her with his body as he turned to face the truck.

It stopped, revving its engine. "Come on," Gemini snarled softly. "Come on, you supernatural hunk of junk....you know you want to...."

It growled twice more for good measure, and then surged forward. "Shut your eyes!" Gemini yelled and felt her press her forehead between his shoulderblades.

The truck entered the ruins and was visibly ripped apart. Spectral debris spun about Gemini and Cassie, vanishing into the breeze.

Cassie moved to stand beside Gemini, visibly shocked. "What... just...."

"Look," Gemini breathed, pointing over their heads.

As they watched, one small ball of light after another rose from the ruins, swirling around them and the remnants of the ghost truck, before soaring into the clearing night.

"Dean," Cassie whispered. "What...."

Gemini smiled at her. "Unfinished business. It wasn't _Cyrus's_ unfinished business holding him here. No punishment was ever brought to him for the firebombings, because your dad and his friends killed Cyrus before he was captured."

Her eyes widened. "No justice for them – until now."

"Right," Gemini nodded. "They have their justice. And now – it's finally over."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam stayed behind while Dean and Cassie explained to her mother that it was over. He chuckled as they reappeared in the front door and kissed for awhile.

His cell phone went off, and Sam frowned at the Minnesota area code. He answered. "Hello?"

The sheriff he had spoken to earlier – he would never forget that voice – answered, _"Is this Sam?"_

"It's Sam. Did ... Did you find your brother?"

_"We did. Exactly how you said. And if your cell number's GPS hadn't put you in Missouri when you called, we'd be looking for you as a suspect. Mind telling us how you knew?"_

Sam smiled and said it aloud for the first time. "Crazy as it sounds, Sheriff, I'm a psychic. How is he?"

_"Battered. But alive. Thanks to you."_

"Just doin' what I could. The... The family who was hunting the people?"

She sighed. _"Attacked us. The only survivor was a 10-year-old girl. She will probably need psychiatric care for a very, very long time."_ There was a pause, then she finished, _"You seemed to genuinely care about my brother. And your tip was directly responsible for us finding him, so...."_

"You didn't have to....but I do appreciate--" He looked over as Dean opened the car door and slid in. "I appreciate you letting me know how it turned out. Take care, sheriff."

 _"You, too,"_ was the last he heard as he hung up.

Dean nodded at the phone. "They find her brother?"

"Alive," Sam said with a relieved smile that Dean reflected back. "So," Sam finished. "You wanna stay around awhile?"

"Nah," Dean said, turning on the car. "We're gonna keep in touch, but we decided we're better off—"

"Just friends," they chorused, and Dean pointed the car toward the rising sun.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meg Masters woke from a sound sleep, breathing hard, her heart pounding. She looked over to find a strange man beside her. She engaged in a full-body shudder as memories from the demon that had taken her over filtered through.

Repulsed, but more horrified by some of the pieces that were slotting into place, she grabbed the stranger's phone and dialed a number she'd seen the demon dial to taunt.

But instead of the voicemail, he answered! _"Hello?"_

"I don't have much time," she breathed. "Plots are in place – stay away from Chicago! Do you hear me? Stay—"

_"Who is this?"_

Shaking, she felt the demon begin to stir. She hung up and hid the phone, pulling on her clothes and fleeing the apartment.

The demon pushed her back down, laughing at her escape attempt. Convinced she was locked down, the demon took her body back upstairs for round four.

But Meg Masters herself smiled warmly. She had tried to warn John Winchester.

Now it was up to him whether or not to listen.

END


End file.
